The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-07-15
AN INSIDE VIEW OF RUSSIA
A Government Thoroughly Democrat
lied and Great Crisis Impending.
Subordinate officials Compelled to Exc Out
Small Salaries by Taking Bribes-A Rus
sian Lady's Comments OH the Empire.

/ omail salaries Dy Taklng brlDeS-A nus
sian Lady's Comments OH the Empire.
| David Ker. in New York Times.
THE last time saw you was at St Peters
| burg and the late Car and the Grand Duke
| Constantine were just coming out of your house
| as went in" said / the other day, greeting at
the door of quiet little house in quaint old
English town Russian lady whom had last
known as the wife of one OF tho greatest states
men in Europe and herself q leading ornament
of the most brilliant Intellectual circle of the
| capital of Russia
And yet" she answered, 81 would rather live
| quietly in England America you know we
Russians always regard the Americans as our
special friends) than be back in the court circle
Of ST. Petersburg just now"
You think. then, as do. that Russia is on
the of great crisis % said 1. struck with the
| gloomy emphasis of her tone and manner.
Yes. think that she has terrible struggle
before her, but still feel certain that she will
| be found equal the redressine Of her own
| grievances don't in the least anticipate that
| general overthrow that some people prophecy"
| ':Stepniak and Krapotkin, for instance" sug-
| gestea I.
'sStepniaki Don't talk of him.! cried the lady
| with fash Of wrath in her great black eyes
| that recalled to me at once the ominous look
| that had seen so often on her beautiful face
| during the grim days OF the troubles in Poland.
| HE has told worse lies of us than any one.
| Only last week sent to one of the London news
papers some of my facts about the inner life of
Russia, just to show them how Stepniak had
| twisted the truth. But the editor wanted to
| print my notes, and"
| "And didn't you let him do it then2' cried in
| amazement. .'You might have upset Stepniak,
| and you actually threw away the chancea"
| II could not have done So" she replied,
| without compromising many Of my own friends,
| which did not choose to do. $50, when the
| editor sent me proof of what | had written /
wrote back that my communication was intended
| TO be private, and that wished the publication
to be stopped at once. which was done accord
Gould you not give those facts to me2' asked
| | eagerly. 'Pn pledge my word to give no
| names without your leave. but such disclosures
as those you mention would be of priceless value
just now"
.'I fear 1 cannot help you there, for the omis-
sion Of the names would cripple the whole story.
| But will gladly answer any other questions
that you like to ask. if you will promise not to
| quote me your authority; for when go back
| to Russia it won't do for the government to
| know that I've been telling tales"
II can readily promise that" said /. for
| fancy my own name is not in very good odor
with the Russian government after what I've
| published about the things that saw in Central
Asia and Atghanissau. So now, to make be-
| ginning. what do you think liable to happen in
| Russia during the next six months2"
1.-TWO things. First. these spurts of anti-Jew-
| ish excitement will be followed by organized
movement against the German residents in
Russia. Secondly, the Russian currency will
fall lower than it has ever done before; aud well
il may. when We have man like Abaza for our
minister of fiuance!'
.Indeed2 I've heard that he's not worth much
and he certainly does not look like genius,
but"
..Much2 He's worth nothing at ALL That
German who came before him, though you
couldn't call him brilliant. was steady and sensi-
BILE, but this man is neither the the
other. Since he came into power things have
that he does only serves to make them
STILL This is doubly bad, for in order to carry
out our most pressing reform we should have to
spend good deal of money, though would
undoubtedly save by it in the end. +"
I'm what way, pray3
.Well. you aware that not one man among
the subordinate officials of provincial ad-
ministration receives q salary sufficient for him
to live upon2"
Really OF course I knew that to be so in
some cases, but had no idea it was so univer-
SAL"
...It is, though. and that's the root of the
whole trouble. Not being able to gain liveli-
hood by fair MEANS these men take bribes sell
justice, Cypress the peasants, and do everything
10 prepare the ground for these Nihilists who,
as you know. make all Europe ring with their
outcres against the corruption and venality OF
Russian officials Then. of course, the 'tchino-
vniks' (offcialsl either neglect their work alto
gether or do it badly, SO as to make profit on
it, and then we waste more money IN putting it
right than we should spend in paying them prop
erlyv
your useless officials. and give higher pay the
rect out of the surplus thus obtainedl You
would lose nothing by aboishing the censor
Ship for instance, for all that it does is to shut
out such writers as Carlyle and John Stuart
Mill, while the Nihilist pamphlets which it is
supposed to keep in check, come into Russia by
thousands in the soles OF shoes and the binding
of books"
we're hardly ready for such sweeping changes
yet. You must remember that the various
parts Of our official system are so linked together
that not touch one without bringing
down two or three more, fact which should be
considered by those who are always asking why
Russis doesn't reform, But we shall really
have to do something toward remodeling our
army before long. Do you know what the
proportion of foreign officers in our service2
Fifty-eight per cent among the regimental off,
GERS, and seventy-five per cent. among the
generals. You can easily guess how many of
these Germans, and you can guess, too,
what the feeling Of the native Russians is
81 should think could. When the Prince OF
Wales asked me about that answered by quot
ing that joke of your great humorist, Nikolai
Gogol, about the Cossack who drove away the
devil by insulting him with the name of &C
cursed German"
"WelI, that's hardly an exaggeration. When
few educated and intelligent foreigners come
among q mass of uneducated and uninteisent
natives they get all the best places . matter
Of course, and equally as . matter of course
they are hated by those below them and sus-
pected by those above You remember how all
the German employees on two of frontier
railways were dismissed at once 1872. Sup
pose we had a with Germany, what would
happen then2 don't say that all these German
officers would desert or resign their posts; but
even if they didn't they would be distrustsd by
the government, by their own comrades, by the
men under them. And then while the skilled
foreign officers were thus paralyzed the IN
skilled native ones would be free to blunder as
they liked. Look at our last war and who
our leaders were then. There were Loris Nell
koff and Tergukassoff, Armenians; Schildner-
Schuldner, German; Nepokoi.chitsk, a Pole;
Todeben. Courlander. Gourko Lithuanian
Cossack: Oklobjio. Mcntenegrin. The only
Skoheleff himself"
'.And he," replied, twas the only one among
all whom could call general.